Ranking LA Rams McVay among NFL head coaches (32-28)

28th-ranked Ron Rivera, Washington Redskins

Head Coaching Record: 76-63-1 (.546)

Ron Rivera is the new head coach of the Washington Redskins. While not inheriting much existing talent, and inheriting player controversy with the team’s blindside left tackle Trent Williams, Rivera was a good fit. Washington is a team with a lot of headlines, controversy, and frustration as a team that had once known success, but now has been caught in a cycle of struggles, compounded by team owner Dan Snyder’s zest for hands-on involvement in team affairs.

Complicating matters further, the team is hotly embroiled in debates as to when and how to change the hotly-contested team name. And the spokesperson for the team through all these matters? Newly hired head coach Ron Rivera. Few, if any, head coaches could field so many non-football related controversies before the start of an NFL season, but Rivera has been doing an admirable job.

Dwayne and defense coach

The biggest matter for Washington was finding a new head coach who would welcome the chance to develop young quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Who better to develop a dual-threat quarterback than the former head coach of veteran dual-threat quarterback Cam Newton? And that experience gives Rivera solid credibility to be the presumed authority after 2020 as to whether Haskins has what it takes to make it in the NFL.

Meanwhile, Rivera will be working to restore the Redskins reputation on the defensive side of the ball. They did not hesitate to select defensive end Chase Young with the second pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. The team then went offense to add an offensive tackle, a running back, and a wide receiver before returning to add defensive role players. Rivera’s ceiling with the Redskins may plateau sooner than some other new coaching hires, but he was definitely the only coach capable of dealing with the 2020 Washington football has experienced so far.